Paradigm
by Calignosity
Summary: Through the thick and the thin, Wakamatsu would grab on with his blood-stained fingers and never let go of hope. Birthday fiction for Wakamatsu (04/16)! No pairings; Slight foul language.


_Posting this early because I won't get a chance tomorrow morning._

_Rating: T (foul language)_  
_Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.**  
**_

_Warning: Some may feel like Wakamatsu is out of character, and while I wouldn't know how he would feel in such a situation, going off of Kuroko's own situation and ones I've experienced, I believe it to be a normal reaction to getting kicked off your pedestal. _

_MANY MANY THANKS TO BLACK MAYA FOR BETA-ING THIS FOR ME AND CORRECTING SO MANY THINGS (; U ;)_

* * *

**WINTER CUP SEMI FINALS - WAKAMATSU'S FIRST YEAR**

_Wakamatsu Kousuke thought it was pure coincidence._

_He didn't know it would turn out like this. The blond, currently on the court in front of hundreds of people, could only hear the pumping of his heart. He fell onto his knees, the sides of his mouth coming together in a tight line._

At the last second of the fourth quarter, the coach had decided to bring him - a newcomer, someone with almost no match experience - into the game, stating for him to do what he did best; rebounding. Wakamatsu did his best—he really did—to mark the captain of Teiko High- a high school directly connected to the famous Teiko Middle School - Nijimaru Shuuzou.

_He supposed his best wasn't enough._

The center was overtaken in a matter of seconds, Nijimaru only taking a second glance before scoffing and dodging past the blond despite his heavy defense. Quickly, Wakamatsu pivoted on his toes, chasing after the raven with all his might. Luckily, his presence caused the other to flinch as he attempted a hook shot. The basketball knocked heavily against the orange rim, and the blond grabbed it with one hand and launched it to the half court where his sadistic captain laid in wait.

_He supposed he had let his ego get the best of him, but it really wasn't his fault... was it?_

Quickly, Imayoshi took his chance and sprinted across the court, pushing past the human roadblocks as quick as a panther. The captain took a shot from the three-point line; the crowd going wild as the ball was shot down the hoop with grace.

"Nice!" Wakamatsu passed by Imayoshi, raising his arm up to high five the other.

_He just wanted to win._

Finally, the last five seconds of the clock ticked. Both teams were shouting loudly from both sidelines and stands; the whole stadium interlocked in a chant of mass proportions. Wakamatsu held the ball, and a group of freshmen - one he had rarely hung out with, for that fact - screamed his name, a look of pure admiration on their faces. He looked to the side and grinned, his overconfidence getting the better of him as his moves became clumsy. The blond didn't have any doubts that day that he would win, and he was oh, so wrong.

He began to throw in the winning shot, making it look as flashy as possible (it was the buzzer beater after all), before another - paler - hand came in and smacked the ball away. Wakamatsu traced the arm of the new figure all the way up to the face of the Teiko captain, and he could only growl in annoyance. The Touou player wasted no time in trying to chase after the ball, but it was too late. The buzzer had rung, and they had ultimately lost.

_Beware Aries!_  
_Today is a day of great misfortune!_  
_One may find oneself facing the shock of one's life!_

_Your lucky item is a basketball!_

* * *

**TOUOU ACADAMY - WAKAMATSU'S FIRST YEAR**

Before all this, the blond had never seen the appeal of sneaking past the locked doors of the rooftop to lie down. Wakamatsu thought it was stupid, that the sun would indeed be too harsh even in the shade, but now he could see the appeal. He could feel the wind blow through his hair, hear the silence of the entirety of the school, and rest to his heart's content. After the soul-crushing game, the whole club was silent. They were silent throughout changing, and not a sound was heard on the bus ride back. Along the way, some foolish freshmen had pulled him over, jeered at him and his inability to score. Wakamatsu wanted to yell at them that he can—he could!

He could shoot. But that was a far away dream by now.

As the confrontation between him and his peers went on, Wakamatsu could only stand still and take it. His eyes were crestfallen, and his shoulders were drooped in defeat. They would've stayed there all day if Susa had not noticed the commotion and quickly scolded the other first years, shooing them away, and giving a sympathetic pat on the blond's back.

"It's okay, we still have next year."

Would he be playing basketball next year after such an event?

He didn't know.

He didn't want to know.

The blond had spent the month afterwards skipping each and every practice as well as skillfully dodging all his senior's questions, much to their annoyance.

Wakamatsu felt as if he would throw up the moment he walked into the Touou gym; the sights, the sounds, and the smell of sneakers and plastics just too much for his mind to handle. It just reminded him of that day, and it made him sick.

Despite all of it though, he still loved basketball. He still kept all his basketball merchandise that had taken weeks and even months of savings to buy. Basketball Monthly had always found it's way into his hands and to the register, this motion almost second nature to him after so many times of purchasing it. Wakamatsu even tried playing said game, going out in the wee hours of the night - or technically, morning - in sweats and a loose t-shirt, basketball hooked under his elbow.

The blond lined up at various positions and shot, wishing in his mind for it to go in. He craved to hear the familiar swish of the net and the knocking of the ball against the hard backboard, and was unmercifully denied.

"What am I doing wrong?" He would cry at himself.

After too many instances of such situation, Wakamatsu gave up, kicking his basketball into the corner of his closet.

That night was the first night the blond had skipped school. He had never wanted to create havoc for his parents, after all they gave him everything, and he was respectful. Though, there were some things they couldn't give to him. Things he had lost and had no possibility of getting back, not without extensive help.

That night, he cried himself to sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"You should get up honey, the cold won't get better if you just stay lodged up in your room," the worried voice of his mother eased Wakamatsu awake. He sat up groggily and was faced with his mother, a woman in her mid-thirties with shoulder length blond hair, holding a tray of breakfast items despite the time of day. She laid the tray down in front of him, retractable plastic legs sticking out from either side to hold it up. "I know you're sad about the semi-finals, but your seniors are worried. They've been coming by everyday, but your father had turned them away each time. I'm afraid at this point they may hold him at gunpoint just to see you." She began with a serious tone, but eventually lightened up and even cracked a joke, knowing Wakamatsu's attitude toward his captain - and the rest of the team - in general.

She stood up after a moment of silence, checking her watch. "I won't force you, but this isn't a healthy lifestyle, Kousuke. I want you to do what you love." His mother delivered him a curt smile before turning around and disappearing down the hall, hurrying to get dressed in work appropriate clothes.

_What did he love at this point?_

-.-.-.-.-.-

* * *

It was a month and two weeks at this point, and Wakamatsu was surprised to hear he had not been booted off the team, most likely the result of the senior's influence in said club.

The blond had stayed back - albeit against his will - to retake a history test, his worst subject. He walked along the halls after getting a thumbs up from the teacher to leave and could only roam aimlessly as he looked through the windows at the clubs outside.

Baseball, tennis, swimming, even track were all out in the fields, doing their daily warm-ups and stretches before working to their major upcoming games.

Wakamatsu sighed and turned away, feeling a pang of hurt in his heart. He leaned against the wall of a near-by classroom, closing his eyes, and resting. The weeks of running away had been horrible on his mental state; having to wake up early, leave early, and practically run out of every single class through a crowd of self-absorbed highschool students was not a way to live life.

It was the fact that he was deep in thought when he got caught.

Without him noticing until it was much too late, a calloused hand had wrapped around his wrist, pulling him up with a force unknown to him until then. Wakamatsu was promptly met with the pissed off expression of his captain (if he could call him that anymore); Imayoshi Shouichi.

"Wha' do ya' think you're doing, skippin' practice like that?" Imayoshi grimaced, letting his kansai dialect slip through, a good sign that he wasn't joking around. The blond only returned his expression with one of equal anger, pulling himself away from the grips of the male dressed in typical basketball clothing. "I said, answer me."

"I can do what I want," Wakamatsu spoke before he had a chance to collect his thoughts. The thoughts that pleaded him to just kneel down and beg for forgiveness, to be back on the court, playing alongside his father figures. "You don't tell me what to do."

"Oh?" The other leaned back, smirking. "That's right. I didn't tell you to miss that shot. I didn't tell you to be so egoistic and careless." He pushed up his glasses. "But what is done, is done. None of us blame you, and it has only opened our eyes to the fact that we should be optimistic. Anything can happen. Victory is not certain until the buzzer rings."

Imayoshi grabbed the other's wrist again, using more force than before.

"Now then, there's still a little bit of practice left. With how long you've been gone, you're probably rusty, which is no good." The captain turned around and let out a mix between a smirk and a smile. "We can't have our star center unprepared, after all."

"God, I hate you so much," Wakamatsu obediently followed the other, his heart pumping with adrenaline and his eyes watering at how the words both pierced and healed his heart. "You're a fucking bastard, you know that?"

"Nothing new to me."

"W-Wakamatsu-san!" A chorus of his name was cried as he walked through the gym doors, the captain's hold on him long released. Susa had cried out loud at the sight of the blond, dropping the basketball he held and flinging onto the other into a hug.

"We've been waiting for you." He said, a stoic look on his face though tears brimmed in his eyes.

Another male, a freshman, ran up alongside Susa and patted Wakamatsu on his back, smiling.

"Look, no hard feelings about the shot." He stuck out his hand, requesting a handshake.

"Yeah," Wakamatsu replied. "Yeah." The blond took the warm hand of the other and relished in the complete feeling that overflowed within his heart.

* * *

**TOUOU ACADAMY - PRESENT DAY (AFTER THE WINTER CUP)**

"Wake the fuck up, Aomine!" Wakamatsu yelled loudly, resisting the urge to kick the egoistic teen in the head.

"Geez, who put a stick up your as-" The power forward rolled up from his position hanging off the stage and rubbed his eyes wearily, looking up at the angry second year. He began to jeer at the other before a hand came and roughly hit him on the cheek, launching him backwards. "What was that for!?"

"Shut up! You know I hate your attitude!"

"That doesn't mean you can hit me!"

"Of course it does, I'm your senior!"

"Your logic makes no sense!" Aomine retorted, rubbing his cheek tenderly. "I was gonna practice anyway..." He trailed off, looking off to the side with a guilty look, obviously thinking back to the game with Seirin and his previous shadow - Kuroko, or whatever his name was.

_He knows the feeling._

Wakamatsu sighed, "Well then get to it then!"

Aomine only laughed, "Better late than never, old man!"

"I'm only a year above you!" The blond turned around sharply and began to chase the other through out the gym, receiving only a exasperated groan from the captain and many others. "Get back here!"

"Yeah, because I'm just going to stop for you!" Aomine growled playfully before jumping into the stands, dodging the plastic bars with precision.

_He was over it though._

"Wakamatsu! Stop already!" Imayoshi's voice cut in, a hint of annoyance on his tongue. "Just bring him in and hand him a ball or two, it's fine!"

"But-" He began to protest but eventually gave up, leading the now calm ace to the side court, handing him a rack of basketballs and watching him from afar. Wakamatsu only grimaced as he heard the loud sound of the hoop, protesting at a missed shot. The center turned around, looking on as the tanned teen tried to shoot from the half court line, and failed once more. "Stupid!" He growled, going up to the other. "Relax your form! Aren't you Mr. Formless-shot!? I expected better from you!"

"I know, _mom_!" Aomine rolled his eyes, but his shoulders sagged a noticeable amount as he lined up to shoot again, this time making it in without a sound.

_His past experience will be a guide—_

_A guide to the others who had experienced what he had—_

_A guide to bring them through the darkness, and back into the light._

* * *

_So, wasn't the typical birthday story you'd find (Or is it...?), but felt it was a good choice to post because of how he overcame his trouble and instead of watching others go down the same path, Wakamatsu reached a hand out to those who needed to open their eyes._

_Despite his habit of being overly loud, Wakamatsu is one of my favorite characters (Touou being my favorite team), but you guys shouldn't take that seriously because I love ALL characters. Nijimaru only showed up and I already **love** him._

_-Anyhow, the next series will be up soon - ended the poll early because I was getting too excited - and the projected name shall be "A Thousand and One Stars". Melancholy Within still needs quite a heavy amount of brainstorming, because I tend to go off track if I don't have enough of an outline written out. Rest assured, the series from here on out will have many, MANY outlining phases._

**_Hope you all enjoyed this birthday snippet! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be writing one for Fukuda's birthday on the 26th, but decided that it earned a mention in here. There may be a chance for Hyuuga (May 16th) and Momoi (May 4th) stories when their time comes though. Before I get too off track, I'll sign out of here and thank you all for your faithful reviews, favorites, and follows!_**


End file.
